


Wrong Kind of Affection

by RevengeWitch



Series: From Sun to the Black [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dark Tony Stark, Dead May Parker (Spider-Man), Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Irondad, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), NOT STARKER - Freeform, No Spoilers, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overprotective Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker-centric, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has Issues, Trust Issues, this is dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22878328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RevengeWitch/pseuds/RevengeWitch
Summary: Peter knew something was wrong from the start.He knew he had to do something about it, it had been bugging him for a time now.Mr. Stark was always protective of him. Always.But this was new, this was weird and dangerous.He knew that he shouldn’t have been ignoring the slight buzzing of his spider-sense. But he trusted him too much.Too much.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: From Sun to the Black [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704829
Comments: 281
Kudos: 597





	1. Dull Buzzing

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter of my first work ^^  
> If you find any grammar or punctuation mistakes, please feel free to tell me! English is my second language and this is my first time writing in English, please be gentle <3

He entered the lab as he always did, with a bright smile. Like nothing was bothering him.

“Mr. Stark!”

With a little jump, his mentor lifted his head up from the metal scraps he was working on as if he didn’t know Peter was coming.

“Hey, kid. Good to see you so lively as always.”

Mr. Stark was smiling, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. It looked almost fake, forced, mechanical. But he knew better than to point it out and have an unproductive argument about it. Tony Stark was never good with emotions. Not good with handling them, not good with talking about them.

He was that kind of person who put his emotions in the second place, tried to hide them. The keyword being “tried”. You could see his emotions in the dark circles under his eyes, you could see it in the distant look of his eyes, you could see it on the glass shards littered across the floor and on worst days, you could smell it from the alcohol in his breath.

But today it was limited with dark circles and a little bit of that distant, empty look. Something was definitely bothering Mr. Stark, Peter had a feeling it was about him.

Sometimes he would catch the man looking at him from the other side of the lab, his eyes full of a mixture of worry and fear. It was one of his signature looks, aside from his fashionable clothes that is. That particular look on his face, the nibbling of his finger, a restless leg. Peter kind of knew what he was dealing with.

Extreme worry. Second keyword being “extreme”.

2 hours into his lab work and Mr. Stark was in that position again, it looked like he wanted to hover over but refrained from it. Peter was getting distracted and he was slightly annoyed, so he put his work down and that startled Mr.Stark into his normal state.

“Something wrong Pete?”

Peter was having a fight within himself, he had two options:

1-Ask Mr.Stark what’s going on with him?  
2-Ask Mr.Stark to stop looking at him like he would disappear.

He could go with the second option but he was aware that he would have the deal with the first one sooner or later. He wanted the take the bull by its horns, but he felt somehow restless. He shook his head added a third option for himself, just for now:

“No, no. Just hungry, I guess.”

Coward.

“Oh, right. Look at the time, sometimes I forget about your enhanced metabolism. I’ll be right back.”

Mr.Stark went out of the lab, probably to order some pizza.

Peter sighed, he didn’t realize he was holding his breath. He himself didn’t understand why he was feeling so tense lately as he always felt relaxed and protected around his mentor. Of course, that was until 3 weeks ago. After that fateful day that his heart stopped for 2 whole minutes, everything went downhill. But since one can’t cry over spilt milk, Peter chose to forget about it.

He stood up from his lab chair to look around the lab and came across something resembling a bracelet on Mr.Stark’s workbench. It was black, metallic but soft to the touch. Nano-tech, he guessed. Just at that moment, his mentor came in, his eyes found Peter and then his hands. He looked alarmed as he rushed to Peter and took the black thing out of his hand:

“You shouldn’t touch my unfinished projects kid! It could blow up!”

And now it was Peter’s turn to look alarmed, Mr.Stark was acting out of character. Normally, he didn’t lose his cool like that.

“I’m sorry Mr.Stark, I was just curious. What is it anyway?”

“Well, for now, it’s nothing. I will tell you when it’s done.” His voice faded towards the end of the sentence as he slowly put the black nano-tech into one of the drawers. He cleared his throat and looked at Peter:

“I ordered pizza. I know, what a surprise. Let’s take a break and eat it while watching something.”

It was a stay-over weekend, therefore he didn’t have to worry about falling asleep and he normally would immediately. But he found it difficult to fall asleep even after stuffing himself with slices of pizza and watching a boring movie.

The culprit was his spider-sense. He stood up and looked around, he didn’t feel like he was in immediate danger. It was dull, not like the sharp ones he gets when he is fighting with criminals of all sorts.

“Peter? What’s wrong?”

Mr.Stark stood up, uneasiness evident in his eyes and with his action, Peter’s spider-sense started getting stronger. Still dull, but stronger.

Peter was in shock. The danger wasn’t coming, the danger was already there. He just wasn’t paying attention, he just kept ignoring it.

He looked his mentor in the eyes, he couldn’t tell him. Simply due to the fact that he didn’t know what was going on at all. He didn’t know if it was safe.

What was happening? Why did he feel this way with Iron Man, his mentor and father figure?

Peter studied his face, it didn’t look like he wanted to hurt him. It was just full of worry, fear. As always.

But that didn’t fool Peter, he was intelligent. He knew how to tackle an unsolved mystery.

“Mr.Stark, just now…what were you thinking?”

He looked taken aback by the question, but he quickly composed himself and avoided the question:

“Nothing really, I was just dozing off to the movie. That was until you stood up and startled me of course.”

Peter noted his avoidance and sat down.

“Sorry, I fell asleep and had a weird dream.”

“Don’t worry about it kiddo, happens to me all the time.”

The rest of the night was them trying to forget what happened, then it came to an end with Peter going to his room to sleep it off.

It didn’t work. Well, when was he able to sleep without a problem anyway? There was always something. Schoolwork, non-stop screams in the streets, a criminal on the loose…

He got out of bed and reached under the bed to take out his backpack, upon opening the zip of it he saw his savior. Familiar red and blue of his suit gave him comfort, he quickly put it on.

He paused for a moment after opening the window, Mr.Stark wouldn’t be happy with him leaving without notice or without his permission. He would most likely refuse to let him patrol. So he decided against alerting him.

While he was swinging between the buildings, his mind wandered off to different places. For example his new patrol curfew, Mr.Stark’s control over where he went, who he dealt with or who he spoke to. It sometimes made Peter suffocated but he never dared to say anything, he was afraid of getting his suit confiscated.

It was a different story in missions. He was an official avenger but it looked like Mr.Stark didn’t want to acknowledge that anymore.

Aliens? Send Peter to the tower for safety.  
Mutants? Send Peter to the tower for safety.  
Criminals with alien tech? Send Peter to the tower for safety.

That’s how it usually went. Sometimes Steve, Rhodey or Bruce talked Mr.Stark into letting him join and sometimes it worked. Not so well but still.

He put a break to his zoning out when he heard a familiar scream of a distressed woman, his enhanced hearing supplied him with a location as well. He got there as quickly as he could and when he did, he took out the bad guy as always. It was a pathetic case of mugging.

The woman looked like she was in her mid-30s, she had what seemed to be a rose-gold hair. It was pretty.

“Are you okay Ma’am?”

“Y-yes, thank you little spider.”

“Li--! Little spider?”

“Oh, sorry. You just sounded so young.”

Peter couldn’t argue with that so settled with a little sigh and offered to take her home, which she gladly accepted. She was easy-going and talkative, easily leading the conversation:

“You know, I heard rumors about Spider-Man appearing less and less. Why might that be?”

Tony freaking Stark.

“Aah…I wonder.”

He wanted to complain about the man so badly, but he bit his tongue and kept quiet.

“I’m sure you have your own stuff to deal with, I’m not saying that to make you feel pressured.”

Peter smiled lightly:

“I know, I guess people just worry about their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

“Correct. Well, this is my apartment so I will go now. Thank you for accompanying me.”

“Always. Good night!”

After that, the city was really quiet and Peter was finally getting sleepy. So he decided to head back to the tower.

He silently crawled under the open window and closed it with the same caution. He exhaled a breath of relief but upon turning around it got stuck in his lungs. He'd expected his bed to be empty.

But a very angry Tony Stark was sitting on it with a dark look in his eyes.


	2. Can’t Protest

“M-Mr.Stark, I can-“

“Explain?”

He stood up and started walking towards Peter. With every step his mentor took forwards, he took a step backward until his back touched the window behind him.

“Are you telling me…that you can explain sneaking out without telling me?”

His voice was dreadfully monotone and calm as he continued:

“Would you be able to explain to me if you got hurt without my knowledge? If you bled to death in a street corner?”

He couldn’t deal with the man’s intense glare and lowered his head, only to be held by the chin and get it lifted again. He had goosebumps all over, his body felt cold. His spider-sense returning with the same dullness, his breaths shallow.

“Peter, why didn’t you ask me?”

This was weird. This was too weird to handle.

Peter got out of the hold of his mentor and put a few good steps between them before answering:

“I knew you wouldn’t let me patrol, whenever I ask for it you get that strange look on your face. I don’t know anymore Mr.Stark!”

He was aware that he was losing control but he couldn’t stop.

“I don’t know why you’re being like this, you haven’t been the same since my heart stopped three weeks ago! You started being so overprotective that I feel trapped! And-and now, my spider-sense started going off because of you! Whenever I’m near you I feel unsafe!”

He suddenly stopped to look at his mentor. What he just said was a big mistake. A very big one.

“Mr.Stark…I didn’t..-“

Peter tried not to move as his mentor stepped towards him again, he didn’t want to worsen the situation.

“What do you mean you feel unsafe Peter?”

“I-It’s just, I don’t even know it myself. My spider-sense thinks you’re a danger to me, I don’t know.”

The man’s expression went from dark to heartbroken as he gently grabbed Peter by the shoulders.

“Why would you feel that way, kid? How can I hurt you while trying this hard to protect you?”

Peter felt his spider-sense stop at that sentence, his discomfort was gone.

“You’re right Mr.Stark. Maybe…maybe it’s because of sleep deprivation and too much caffeine, it happened before too.”

He was fooling himself again, someday this would be his undoing.

“Possible. Which is why you’re banned from any spider-manning activities until I say so.”

“I’m grounded?”

“Damn right you are.”

Mr.Stark started walking to the door after ruffling Peter’s hair.

“But-“

He turned around before exiting the room and Peter shuddered with the tingle of his spider-sense once again.

“No arguing, Peter.”

He quickly nodded.

“ ’night kid.”

“Goodnight, Mr.Stark.”

He got out of his suit and got into his PJs. Throwing himself onto the bed, he analyzed every little thing about Mr.Stark’s actions but couldn’t find anything new to add to the list.

When the morning came he didn’t want to leave his room, he just wanted to spend the remaining days hiding from Mr.Stark. But it wasn’t an option as Friday alerted him about the breakfast, he unwillingly got out of bed and didn’t even bother to put on his daily clothes.

He found Mr.Stark in the kitchen area, he was putting pancakes on a plate. He smiled when he saw Peter:

“Morning Pete.”

“Morning Mr.Stark, I’m surprised you didn’t burn the pancakes this time.”

His mentor cracked a hollow laugh that didn’t reach his eyes:

“I’ve been training you know, Pepper helped me a lot. Well, she basically did everything and I just watched but I’m a fast learner.”

He put the plate in front of Peter along with the syrup then sat on the opposite side of the table with his knife and fork, after that came the silence. The silence was unnerving, he hoped it was just him feeling this way. Otherwise, they would be just playing a game of ‘Who hides their thoughts the best?’

Peter did a lot of thinking last night but couldn’t come up with anything. Aside from acting strange, Mr.Stark wasn’t doing anything. But his spider-sense…it never led him astray, that was the hardest part to think about. The possibility that Mr.Stark could hurt him.

He couldn’t get his head around the idea, the man was trying to protect him. Sometimes by stepping over the lines. Why would he hurt Peter? This questioning was a vicious cycle and it was driving him mad.

“Kid? What’s with that face?”

Peter looked at him and saw his worried expression again, Mr.Stark looked somehow…paranoid.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with my face?”

“You can’t fool me, I know that look. You’re thinking too hard, mind telling me about it?”

Oh no. He was onto something.

Peter calculated the situation, he needed to get out of this without raising suspicion from the man.

“Nothing, same stuff. You know, about my spider-sense.”

Mr.Stark was silent for a moment, then he sighed and lowered his fork and knife to the table.

“Maybe we should get it looked at. You know Dr.Cho, right? She could check up on you.”

The idea that he could talk with a third person felt rather relieving to Peter so he nodded:

“Yeah yeah, that would be cool.”

“I will call her after breakfast, tomorrow is a Sunday and I’m not cruel enough to call someone on their day-off.”

The smile that didn’t reach his eyes was on display again, he wasn’t fooling anyone either.

They spent their entire day in the lab, eventually Friday notified them about the arrival of Dr.Cho. They moved to med-bay and Peter saw the Asian looking woman next to the entrance door, the woman looked unhappy. She probably didn’t like Mr.Stark, but smiled professionally nevertheless. His mentor mirrored her:

“Hey Cho, good to see you around here.”

“Likewise Stark. So, why exactly am I here?”

Mr.Stark put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and nudged him forward:

“You know spider-man, this is him.”

Peter did not expect that.

“Wha-? Mr.Stark!”

Mr.Stark squeezed his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile:

“Don’t worry about it, she knows more than that already.”

That didn’t comfort him but the damage was done already. Dr.Cho extended her hand to Peter:

“I’m Helen Cho, you don’t have to worry about anything. I work with all kinds of enhanced people.”

Peter took her delicate hand and gave a slight shake:

“If you say so.”

…

The room they entered was dark and had a lot of machines, Peter laid down on a bed in the middle of them. Uncountable amounts of cables stuck to him, he was unable to move much. Dr.Cho was filled in about the little details of his blood work.

Mr.Stark was in the corner, watching everything with care. Soon, a notification from his phone got him out of the room to make a call. Dr.Cho stopped what she was doing and looked straight at Peter:

“Did you notice anything different about him?”

Peter could die from relief right at that moment.

“Yes. He is acting strange.”

“He always is, but this is new. Is that why he called me to check up on you?”

“Yeah…Because my spider-sense keeps acting up even with him near me.”

Dr.Cho looked deep in thoughts, her eyebrows creased.

“Correct me if I’m wrong but, as far as I know, your spider-sense is never wrong about danger. So…--but it doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know Dr.Cho, that’s why you’re here. Something must be wrong with my senses, Mr.Stark can’t be the cause of this. I mean, he is trying so hard to keep me safe, he added new safe-guards to my suit, grounded me for patrolling without telling him and so on.”

“You might be right. Anyway, I will do my side of the things and report if I see anything unusual.”

Mr.Stark walked back with an apologetic look on his face:

“Sorry, some SI stuff came up. So, find anything yet?”

“Just a second.”

Dr.Cho sat in front of the computer and observed the signals coming from Peter for a while, she shook her head sideways:

“I can’t see anything wrong with him, everything’s fine.”

“If that’s so, how do you explain this groundless flare of his senses?”

“Maybe it’s as simple as he said before. Too much caffeine and less sleep. Oh, and his vitamin levels are low too. Not alarmingly low but you should get that fixed. If there is nothing else, I have to get going.”

“No, thanks for the effort.”

Dr.Cho smiled and got out of the room. Mr.Stark turned to Peter with a slight irritation:

“Low vitamin levels? I thought you said you were eating enough Peter. Are you lying to me?”

“I’m not!”

“How do you explain this then?”

“I thought I was eating enough, you don’t have to make such a big deal of it!”

“I have to! My kid can’t just starve himself!”

Peter nearly responded with ‘not your kid’ but he held himself back, he knew he wouldn’t like the outcome. Mr.Stark didn’t look like he realized what he just said, so Peter settled with an answer that would calm his mentor down:

“I’m not starving myself but I get your point, I will take care.”

Mr.Stark looked like he was calming down, then he wagged a finger at him:

“You better, because from now on you will have bi-weekly blood tests.”

Peter gave him a perplexed look and started shaking his head, this was overstepping the lines and he opened his mouth to protest.

Except he couldn’t.

His spider-sense didn’t let him.

“Okay, Mr.Stark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic will gradually get darker with every chapter ^^  
> And again, if you find any grammar or punctuation mistakes, please tell me!


	3. Weird

Breakfast on Sunday was identical to the Saturday one. The only difference was the fruit bowl on Peter’s side, huge bowl was so full that some of the fruits were falling off.

“Mr.Stark, please tell me I don’t have to eat all of this.”

“You do.”

“C’mon! My stomach isn’t even this big!”

“I didn’t say you have to finish it in one sitting, you have a whole day ahead of you.”

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to bring food into the lab.”

“I’ll make an exception.”

Peter sighed, he had been doing it so much lately. Mr.Stark noticed it too but he preferred to turn a blind eye to it, he was practically a master at it.

He felt so trapped. It wasn’t suffocating yet but he would come to that point, his personality made him vulnerable to suffocation. It made him want to throw the bowl of fruits to Mr.Stark and scream at him. However, he knew that it would be childish and illogical. He didn’t even want to think about the consequences.

‘Might as well get to it’ he thought and grabbed the apple on top and bit into it. It tasted sweet, just like he liked. He had a feeling Mr.Stark knew about it, the man was very attentive.

After the breakfast he got up from the table to go to the lab, Mr.Stark cleared his throat to get his attention and looked pointedly to the bowl. Peter grabbed it and took it to the lab.

The day ended shortly after Peter finished his last bite, Mr.Stark looked happy about it. Peter was just the opposite, unhappy and nauseous.

“Good job, kid. Now let’s take you home.”

Ride to the home was silent like the last 2 days, Peter was glad he was out of the tower. Before, it was the other way around. He would use every opportunity and excuse to come to the tower and hang out with the mentor he adored, it was just 3 weeks ago.

Peter wanted to talk about it but whenever he came close to the subject, Mr.Stark would change it with an inexplicable expression on his face.

Interesting thing was, his flashbacks weren’t about the event itself. They were about what happened after the event, mainly Mr.Stark’s overwhelming emotions and reactions. He forbade Peter from leaving the tower or even med-bay for a whole week until Pepper and Rhodey convinced him that the danger was gone. May wasn’t happy about that involuntary med-bay stay either.

But they let it go.

They knew Tony Stark. He was just worried, a little paranoid. But he got better after torturing the culprit half to death, he wanted to hide it from Peter but it slipped past his lips. It scared him. Mr.Stark who once tried to keep Peter away from himself in fear of harming the kid indirectly, was now reluctant to let him out of his sight. That was the reason for the stay-over weekends. For the sanity of his mentor.

He shivered.

“We are here kid.”

“Oh yes, thank you for dropping me off.”

Mr.Stark ruffled his hair and smiled, his hand remained in Peter’s hair playing with it slightly.

“Don’t mention it.”

Peter opened his door but just as he attempted to step out, Mr.Stark grabbed his arm. He turned around to see what was wrong:

“Mr.Stark?”

The man looked really unwilling to part from his mentee, he physically couldn’t let him go.

“Nothing, good night kid.”

“Umm…good night I guess.”

Peter pulled his arm from the unwilling man and hurried to the apartment.

Upon entering the living room he saw May lying on the couch, watching some drama. She waved a hand at Peter:

“You’re unusually late this time, did you fall asleep at Stark’s?”

He couldn’t say ‘No. Mr.Stark wouldn’t let me leave until I finished eating a whole damn bowl of fruits’ so he just smiled and said:

“No, we just lost track of time.”

“Oh, you’re having fun again. Glad to know that.”

Peter was sure he had a puzzled look.

“What do you mean ‘again’?”

May got up from where she was lying and looked at him with a knowing manner:

“After that incident, you were wary of him. We thought he broke your trust with the whole involuntary hospitalization thing. Apparently, it wasn’t the case.”

Peter didn’t have anything to say to that, May continued:

“I was very angry at him, I shouted my head off. He just stood there and took it all, Tony Stark just accepted someone shouting at him. And then you know what he said? He said that he couldn’t bear to lose you and he would do everything in his power to keep you safe.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. That was the moment I decided to trust him with you.”

No May, no. Something is going on here.

Peter opened his mouth to reveal everything that happened, about the fruits, about his spider-sense, about being grounded, about getting locked up in the tower when a mission arose. But he didn’t want to make her upset for nothing, it wasn’t at an unbearable point yet. Maybe if he could just endure it a little bit longer, things would go back to normal. It had been 3 weeks after all, the wound was still fresh.

“It’s nice to see you get along with Mr.Stark, May.”

“I feel better about it too. And look at the time, you have school tomorrow.”

“I better sleep then, ‘night May.”

“ ’night Peter.”

…

Peter ran out of the door at full speed, he was late and he deserved it when he hit the snooze button for the third time.

“I’m late! Bye May!”

“See you later.”

He needed to get to the subway in 10 minutes or he would definitely be late to first period, with that in mind he jumped out of the apartment building but immediately stopped when he noticed the familiar Audi R8. His spider-sense made itself known right at that moment.

He approached the passenger side of the car, window rolled down and his mentor’s soft smile welcomed him.

“Hop in, kid.”

He got in the car and glanced at his mentor:

“Mr.Stark, I didn’t know you were gonna drive me to school.”

“Well, me neither.”

Upon taking a closer look he took notice of the darkened circles under his eyes and the manic look in his eyes.

“Mr.Stark, is everything alright?”

He looked at Peter for a split second and chuckled:

“Of course Pete, why?”

“Uh, you look tired.”

“SI work is keeping me up, I’m a busy man.”

That was a lie. Ever since he made Pepper the CEO, he stopped dealing with all the paperwork. And even if he was really busy, why would he come to drive him to school?

“Makes sense. So…Mr.Stark, when can I go patrolling?”

Mr.Stark gripped the wheel harder, making his knuckles turn white with pressure.

“Not until I say so.” He gritted through his teeth. Peter didn’t continue asking, the man wasn’t in a good mood and his spider-sense was making him more sensitive.

After 30 minutes or so they arrived at his school.

“Okay kid, I’ll pick you up after school”

“What? You don’t have to.”

Mr.Stark took out his sunglasses from his pocket. The moment he put them on, it was useless to keep on arguing.

“I insist.”

“Okay, see you…I guess.”

Mr.Stark winked at him and then he was gone.

Peter’s enhanced hearing picked up his best friend’s breathing and his steps before he even came close, he turned and waved at him.

Ned was out of breath:

“Dude! Tony Stark drives you to school on a Monday morning?!”

“It’s new.”

“So cool! I wish I could ride with you.”

“Believe me, you don’t.”

Peter walked past Ned and towards the school entrance, his friend followed him with a question:

“What’s that supposed to mean? I thought you admired Tony Stark.”

Peter thought he didn’t need to make his friend uneasy, Ned was an air-head but he knew when to worry. Peter didn’t need that right now.

“I do, it’s just, I wasn’t in the right mood. You know, low-energy and all that.”

Ned’s mouth took an O shape:

“Oh, I get it. You didn’t want Mr.Stark to see you out of character.”

“Exactly. Now let’s get going.”

Mr.Stark was the one who was out of character but he had no intention of mentioning that.

He got an odd message from Mr.Stark at lunch break.

**Mr.Stark: You’re in school?**  
Me: Yeah, where else would I be?  
Mr.Stark: Just making sure. 

They both knew Mr.Stark could track his phone faster than he could send a text message. It contributed to the oddness of the situation. Peter was coming close to the edge. He felt like he wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut after school when his mentor comes to pick him up. It made him want to ditch Mr.Stark and run away. That wouldn’t work but thought crossed his mind nevertheless.

There was no avoiding it, he just wished to get it over with. He wanted his normal Mr.Stark back, but it looked like this new Mr.Stark wasn’t going anywhere in the near future.

He lost his train of thought when Ned jabbed him:

“Peter, wanna come over tonight to build some legos?”

“Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind?”

“Rebuilding Death Star?”

“I’m in.”

Ned got back to eating his lunch with a satisfied grin, Peter was glad his dark thoughts dispersed into nothingness.

School bell rang, it was total chaos even in a science school. Peter waited for everything to calm down, taking his time with rearranging his bag.

He walked through the almost empty halls to the school doors, the Audi was in sight even before he got out of the school building. He felt watched, what a surprise.

“Hey, Mr.Stark.”

“Hey there Pete, how was school?”

He got into the passenger side and answered while putting on his seatbelt:

“Usual, nothing new.”

“Nothing out of ordinary huh, good. What are your after school plans?”

“Homework. Then I will go to Ned’s to build some lego stuff.”

“Ned’s? When?”

“Around 9 pm.”

“9? That’s late.”

Peter closed his eyes, trying so hard not to lose his cool. It was becoming a challenge.

“Not really, May said okay and I will stay over.”

“At least let me drive you to—“

“No. I want to walk.”

Mr.Stark gave him a stubborn look but surprisingly accepted it.

“Okay, if that’s what you want. But text me before going out and when you get there. Twice.”

“Will do.”

Peter bit his bottom lip and looked out the window, people walking on the streets looked so free all of a sudden. He wanted that feeling too.

Tonight was the night he would breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the chapters will be uneventful but I have my ending ready ^.^  
> You will either hate it or love it :3


	4. What are you hiding?

Peter lifted his head up to the sky breathed the polluted city air in, filling his lungs with it. It was slightly cold, it gave a good kind of freshness. A smile formed without his knowledge. This felt freeing indeed, just as he thought it would.

He started to associate freedom with the absence of his mentor, but he didn’t feel guilty about it. He was aware that it was his mentor’s own doing. Peter was a free and bubbly spirit, trying to keep him still was playing against his nature.

He heard a suspicious whisper 2 or 3 streets ahead, a backstreet of course. He got closer to investigate. Situating himself on the side of a building he listened to the voices and followed them, finding 2 black vans and 5 men. He instantly saw the unholy glow of the alien tech and had flashbacks about 3 weeks ago, if Mr.Stark saw him now he would have a heart attack.

He couldn’t just leave empty-handed but he knew better than to get involved without knowing, this time he didn’t have his suit on and if his heart stopped it would be the end of his life. So he did the least he could do and took a high-resolution picture of the group, their car and baggage. Then sent it straight to Ned, they would look into it together. He didn’t have his suit but he had his guy in the chair.

“No.”

“Please!”

“No, Peter!”

“C’mon, he doesn’t have to know!”

“Are you crazy? Dude, you almost died because of this!”

“I know, I know but I learned my lesson. Look, I’m here, I didn’t jump into action. And hey, I’m not saying we should go and fight with them. I just want information, pleeease?”

He was on his knees, hands clasped together, begging his friend for the umpteenth time. Finally, Ned caved in and exhaled:

“Okay. But if you do anything reckless I will tell Mr.Stark.”

“Okay! Thank you thank you thank you!”

Ned couldn’t stop flashing a smile and took out his laptop to analyze the pictures Peter took, he easily tracked the plate numbers from the CCTV cameras and found their location. After that he went after the people but could only find one of them, others were hidden from the view because of their position or hoodies.

He wrote his findings on a note app and sent it to Peter:

“Done. Now get these to Mr.Stark and he can deal with it.”

“Can he?”

Ned looked at him with an angry face:

“Dude! You promised!”

“Okay okay, I will send it to him but not now.”

His best friend didn’t look convinced but let it go for now. They started working on Death Star and finished a quarter of it before going to bed, Peter was feeling a good type of tiredness that put him to instant and dreamless sleep.

In the morning, he woke up by Ned’s frantic voice:

“Dude! Dude!! Wake up, I can’t believe this is happening!”

“Whaa--?”

He opened his eyes and looked at his friend’s face, big eyes, big energy. He knew why.

Tony Stark strikes. Again.

Ride to the school was chaotic to say the least, Ned was talking non-stop. Literally. Mr.Stark looked pretty neutral, which was weird. Peter was annoyed, not because of Ned.

When they arrived, Ned thanked Mr.Stark and got out of the car. But when Peter went for the door, Mr.Stark stopped him and opened his window to tell Ned to go ahead.

“Okay kid, spill. What are you hiding?”

His mentor was full of surprises, he wasn’t wrong about hiding something but still. Where did that even come from?

“I’m not hiding anything, where did that come from?”

Mr.Stark didn’t answer immediately, he looked out the windshield and spoke very slowly:

“So, you’re not telling me?”

Peter was starting to become friends with his spider-sense now, the dull one, the one that makes him scared. He hugged his bag closer and his hand went to the handle of the door:

“There’s nothing to tell, everything’s as usual Mr.Stark. I have to go though, school awaits.”

He pulled the handle but nothing happened, the hairs on his neck stood up more profoundly as he turned to his mentor:

“Child lock Pete.”

Peter could easily kick it open with his super strength but decided against it, he wasn’t in immediate danger. And besides, he wouldn’t be able to afford the broken door of an Audi. He gave up on the door handle for now.

“Mr.Stark, there is something but I’m not hiding it. I just wanted to gather more intel and give it to you.”

“Intel? About what?”

Peter took his phone out and sent the file to his mentor, his neutral expression turned to a shocked one and then a furious one.

“I can’t believe you, I can’t. Kid, after everything that happened you’re still going after this alien tech shit? Huh? I’m doing everything to keep you from harm and then you go and do this, don’t you feel guilty at all?”

“I didn’t do anything! I just took some pictures and left!”

“Yeah, because you didn’t have your suit. You know what, I’m grounding you for the unforeseeable future.”

“Mr.Stark, you’re overreacting.”

“What? I’m fucking overreacting? Was I the one who got shot by some fucking alien gun and died for 2 fucking minutes?! Was I the one who ignored my wise fucking mentor and went after the bad guys?!”

Peter was taken aback by the sudden swearing and the amount of them, just one of the reasons he couldn’t react properly. His lack of response gave an opening to Mr.Stark. His voice was low, full of fear, anger and something indistinguishable:

“I’m tracking your phone, if you go to a place I don’t know I will be notified. And if I see, no scratch that, if I think that you put yourself in danger I will punish you. You hear me? I will punish you, Peter.”

Dull aching of his spider-sense was gone, replaced with a screaming. He had to move, he had to do something. He was sure that Mr.Stark was seeing the fear in his mentee’s eyes, because his features started to soften as he took a deep breath and composed himself before continuing with a lighter tone:

“I’m not trying to ruin your life kid, just trying to keep you alive.” He opened the child lock “You can go now, have a good day.”

Peter literally threw himself out of the vehicle and ran to the school without looking back, his bag was still clutched in his hands, his eyes cast downwards.

“Peter? What’s wrong dude? You’re so white…”

Ned was looking at him with confusion, Peter couldn’t find the right words. He wanted to tell everything but he needed to think first, he lied:

“Uh, nothing. Just a slight headache I think.”

“Wanna skip class?”

“No no, it’s not that bad.”

Ned being an air-head was a good thing sometimes, it saved him time and stress.

He wanted to smash his phone, if it wasn’t for May he would do it in a heartbeat. Mr.Stark was evolving about being overprotective, crossing every line society and Peter drew for him. He started to feel like he didn’t know his mentor anymore, that sweet father figure was turning into something dark and unwanted.

Telling Peter he would punish him? No. That’s not what a mentor or a normal father would say, he wasn’t his father anyway. He wondered what he meant by punishment.

Taking his suit away?

Banning him from entering the lab?

Forcing him to eat bowls of vegetables?

Or something far worse?

He didn’t know what Mr.Stark was really capable of, he didn’t want to take his chances. This new Mr.Stark was in one word unpredictable.

He remembered the times when his mentor’s smile would reach his eyes, warmness filling the place with it. His soft, affectionate touch on his shoulder encouraging him to talk animatedly. The smell of burnt pancakes combining with their laughs…

Peter felt like crying, the back of his eyes felt pressured. He held it in.

He couldn’t make sense of it, he hated illogical things.

He decided to talk to Mr.Stark about it without backing down or being a coward. He would speak his heart out and deal with everything later on, he would tell Mr.Stark everything. How he felt trapped and suffocated, how he wanted freedom. How he missed the old Mr.Stark…

He inhaled sharply, some of his classmates heard him but paid him no mind. He was grateful for that.

He made a plan, the first step was to arrange a meeting. He would meet with Mr.Stark in a public place, that way he wouldn’t be able to shout at Peter or do anything temperamental. Yeah, that sounded good.

He took his phone out and asked for a dinner, he knew Mr.Stark would throw his work aside and have dinner with him as long as he asked for it. They agreed on a casual restaurant, Mr.Stark would pick him up from the apartment around 8 pm. May had a night shift so she didn’t mind that Peter went out for dinner.

He instantly felt like backing up, but it was too late for that. His mentor’s attitude was overpowering, sometimes manipulative. Just slightly.

There was something he realized way too late. What he needed protection from was not something physical.

It was emotional.

It was psychological.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey, another chapter :3


	5. The Adult

Peter met with Mr.Stark right outside the restaurant, he didn’t need a ride there since it was so close to the apartment he and May stayed in.

They went straight ahead, Mr.Stark had already booked a table for them, they were directed to it by a kind host. Their table was mostly isolated from the other ones, his mentor liked privacy. Sadly, the younger boy had forgotten about it.

“So, kid, what’s with the dinner all of a sudden?” Mr.Stark inquired “You normally reject my offers when it comes to restaurants.”

Peter tried to make his face more neutral, his mentor was carefully watching him, taking everything in.

“That’s actually the very reason. I felt bad for rejecting it all the time so I thought this would be a nice idea.”

Mr.Stark smiled, this smile reached his eyes “Good thinking there, Pete.”

The boy exhaled a breath of relief, so good so far. First, he needed to keep the conversation light. Then he would slowly get into the subject, easing the older man in slowly. Maybe it would help to keep his mentor from flipping the table. Not literally.

They talked for about an hour, Peter felt the cold sweat start to build up. What was he so nervous about?

Mr.Stark was in such a good mood after all these days, it would be a shame but it had to be done. Peter couldn’t live in this metaphorical cage anymore, he wanted to get out of his mentor’s overprotective clutches.

“Mr.Stark, I was thinking about our talks…”

The man stopped eating and looked at him, giving his full attention. Peter’s tone indicated the importance of the unspoken words.

“Yeah?”

“A-and I think that you’re being too worried about my safety.”

Both of them had stopped eating and were staring at each other with different emotions. Peter was waiting for the fury, Mr.Stark was trying to contain it. The older man nodded slightly, then averted his gaze, but his eyes found Peter’s again as he spoke:

“You might want to elaborate on that, Peter.”

And this marked the entrance of his spider-sense to the scene. Mr.Stark was giving him a chance to backpedal, Peter considered it but he had to be brave. His mouth felt dry, his breaths became shallow and he felt like he couldn’t expand his chest enough to take the air in. He still managed to press on:

“Mr.Stark, you are aware of your every action. You know about the restrictions you put on me under the name of protection, and I appreciate that I really do, but it started to feel pressuring.”

Mr.Stark was at his quietest moment, his eyes were the darkest they’ve ever been. Peter knew this was his cue to shut his mouth but everyone knew Peter was a babbler under the tiniest bit of pressure or tension. So he failed to shut up and continued to dig his own grave:

“I-I mean even May doesn’t try that hard and she’s known me since like, what, my baby years? So I thought you could relax a bit, trust me more.”

Mr.Stark’s words cut through like a glass:

“I trusted you once.”

This time it was Peter’s turn to play the quiet one, he didn’t or more like couldn’t say a word as the mentor of his kept on speaking:

“I’m sure you remember when. It was so close, like what, three weeks ago?”

“Mr.Stark I learned my lesson, do you think I want to die and leave everyone behind?!”

“First, lower your voice. Second, yes, sometimes I think you wanna get yourself killed. I mean, why else would you do what you’ve done? Do you have any logical explanation? I didn’t think so.”

Peter was flabbergasted. Did Mr.Stark think he was looking for death? Did he lose his trust that much? He recovered from his shock state and retorted back:

“Well, good to know our trust issues are mutual then!”

Mr.Stark glared at him:

“What? Did you seriously say that? Are you saying that to the man who designed you a multimillion-dollar suit to keep you alive?”

Peter could feel the anger building up, it overpowered his nervousness, giving him more courage:

“I didn’t say that you would let me die, Mr.Stark. It’s not about the suit, it’s about my lifestyle.”

Mr.Stark scoffed:

“What lifestyle could you have other than a student’s? Let me guess, not minding your own business and getting into trouble?”

Peter came to the conclusion that this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. For some strange reason, his mentor was keeping his cool and Peter was losing it. It was supposed to be the other way around. So he decided to become more direct with his approach.

But before he could make his next attempt, Mr.Stark’s phone beeped. They both knew it was the emergency tone, which could override Stark Phone’s silent mode, it was bad news. Mr.Stark looked at him, fear evident in his eyes just like before:

“Hold on a second, kid.”

There was a stop as he listened to the phone, his enhanced hearing picked up Steve Roger’s disconcerting voice:

“Stark, you have to get back to the tower. We have trouble, a very big one. We are gathering everyone, it’s serious.”

“Okay, we’re on our way.”

The man stood up abruptly, Peter followed. He expected him to say something along the lines of ‘Go home, May would worry about you.’ So he was feeling disappointed. But Mr.Stark surprised him:

“C’mon kid, we gotta go.”

That lifted his spirits up, he was going to get involved in a mission. Or so he hoped.

When they got to the tower, it was total chaos. All of the avengers were there, arguing about strategies and something about limited time. They were so into it, they didn’t notice Tony Stark entering the room. 

Steve was the first one to see him and ceased all the commotion.

“Stark, you have to see this.”

He pointed at the big holographic screen in front of them, a video started playing out. A video message. In the video was a masked man, Peter got a feeling that this man was not human. Probably because of his light red skin, his voice was like two people speaking at once:

“Hello, simple-minded people of earth. This is my message to you, I am Rubra from a superior race. I’ve come to cleanse the planet from filth and claim its natural resources for myself and my people. I’m notifying so there will be no resistance. Parasites deserve no life.”

Video ended with a static sound. Peter glanced at his mentor, his face was white as a sheet. Even whiter than when he was sick with a stomach bug. Peter decided to be the comedic relief:

“So…we are the filth?”

Steve responded with, “Yes, apparently.” then turned to his mentor, “They have 3 ships, we don’t know how many of them are there but the ships are big. Our time is running out, satellites picked up and tracked their signal, we have 5 hours to prepare at most. What is the plan?”

The answer he got was silence. Peter touched his shoulder to gain his focus, which caused the man to suddenly snap his head back to him. Then he grabbed Peter’s wrist and turned to the team:

“First things first, let me get the kid to safety.”

Peter was going to protest but Steve beat him to it:

“But Tony, we do—“

“No! Kid first!”

He looked at the soldier like he was going to murder him right at that spot, Steve looked at him like he went mad. Which could be the case, according to Peter.

He didn’t want to argue with his mentor in front of the team, so he let himself be dragged away to god knows where. When it looked like they weren’t going to stop anytime soon, Peter called out to him:

“Mr.Stark?”

Silence.

“Mr.Stark, can you stop for a second?”

Silence again.

He looked at the hand on his wrist, it was tight. Mr.Stark was holding him so tight he could feel the blood circulation getting blocked, his hand felt numb already. He didn’t have any other choice so he resorted to using some of his enhanced strength and he was out of the painful hold in a second.

“Kid, we don’t have much time. Come here.”

He grabbed his wrist one more time, Peter didn’t try to break out of it this time. Only because he managed to get a reaction out of the man.

“Yeah, Mr.Stark. We don’t have time, so where are we going? We should try to come up with a plan with the rest of the team.”

“I said first things first Peter, safety.”

His damn spider-sense was back at it. Again. Peter foolishly thought he could fight Mr.Stark when push comes to shove, he could easily overpower or outrun him. Which is why he failed to be cautious.

He was somehow relieved when they arrived at the lab, Mr.Stark let go of him took something out of a drawer. Upon taking a closer look, Peter realized it was the nano-tech thing his mentor was working on before.

“Give me your hand, kid.”

His spider-sense said no.

“Kid, c’mon.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you if it works, so give me your hand. Now.”

This time, his spider-sense didn’t say no, it screamed NO. But trust had always been Peter’s problem.

He extended his hand to the man, nano-tech came to life and adjusted itself around his wrist with an electric-blue light. Then that blue light traveled all across his body and he got a tingling sensation. Wherever light passed through, his muscles felt weak.

“What just happened?”

Mr.Stark smirked and waved a piece of metal pipe in front of him:

“Try to bend it.”

Peter got confused by the weird request and took the pipe from the older man’s hand, tried to break it in half like a loaf of bread. Only to find himself powerless, his panic was slowly rising.

“Mr.Stark, what is this? Vibranium or something?”

“No, just regular metal.”

Peter looked at the black device on his wrist and attempted to tug it off, it wasn’t coming off. If he wasn’t panicking then, he was panicking now.

“It won’t come off like that, only I can take it off.”

Rage filled Peter’s now weak body as he raised his voice:

“Why the hell would you do something like this, Mr.Stark?!”

“Hush now, don’t ask questions if you already know the answers.”

“How am I supposed to fight like this?”

“You won’t.”

Peter wanted to scream even though it wouldn’t get him anywhere, he was a teenager so he acted like one:

“I will go out and help, this-“ he lifted his wrist in front of Mr.Stark’s face to emphasize his words “-won’t change anything.”

Who was he kidding? Even his spider-sense was on silent, he would only be a hindrance. He just felt the need to be a little defiant, he didn’t know it would backfire.

“Oh really?”

“Yes!”

“Hm, let’s see.”

Mr.Stark abruptly bent down and hauled Peter over his shoulder very effortlessly, the teen felt the air rushing out of his lungs at the sudden action. He held onto his mentor’s clothes to balance himself and spoke in a high pitched voice:

“What are you doing?!”

Mr.Stark gave him a single answer:

“Showing you who is the adult here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first started writing this, I didn't think anyone would read it. But now...I'm overwhelmed by the positivity, you guys are awesome T_T <3


	6. Confine and Protect

Mr.Stark got into the elevator with Peter over his shoulder and spoke loudly:

“Friday, dear, take us to the P-Floor.”

Peter’s legs flailed wildly, he was hoping Mr.Stark would drop him so he could run away somehow. But it was proving to be a futile attempt. Without his superpowers, he was simply a teenage boy who had no chance against a grown-ass man.

“Mr.Stark I don’t know what you’re doing but I’m scared! This is not like you!”

“You made me this way so no complaining, Pete.”

“Where are you even taking me?”

“Patience.”

His tone was dangerously casual, he was talking as if they were taking a walk in a park. It made the teenager think that his mentor finally went crazy.

They went down and down and down. Peter didn’t even know they had floors this deep into the ground, he felt claustrophobic. He wished his mentor would put him down, it’s not like he could go anywhere in the damn elevator.

When the door finally opened, he turned his to take a look. He was welcomed by the gloomy, greyish short corridor. At the end, there was a heavy metal door. Mr.Stark walked towards it without hesitating, then went down a set of stairs to reach an opening. The opening was very big, very bright. It was nearly the size of a dance-hall, there were doors lined up in order.

His mentor entered the first one and dropped Peter on a bed, took a step back and looked at him. The room was like a mini apartment, he could see the bathroom through the open door on his left. The door they entered was right in front of him, behind Mr.Stark. In the right corner was a built-in kitchen with all the utensils; in the right corner was a Tv and a single seat.

Peter questioningly looked at the man before him as he tried to speak in a non-provocative tone:

“Mr.Stark, I don’t understand.”

“Okay, let me enlighten you. This is a panic room, you know what a panic room is, right? I’m pretty sure all that war-time shit they make you watch in school has these. Questions?”

“Yeah. What the hell?!”

“No cursing under my roof young man.”

“I-I can’t believe you!”

Right at that moment, the sound of the metal door opening rang throughout the empty space, then Peter saw Steve’s worried face peeking through the doorframe. His worried face morphed into one of concern as he took the scene in:

“Tony, what’s going on here?”

Peter jumped to answer as he got up from the bed:

“Mr.Rogers! He’s trying to lock me up in here!”

Steve’s turned his face to Mr.Stark with a look that said ‘What the—Tony?’

Mr.Stark pushed Peter back to bed and spun around:

“No way he’s going to fight with a bunch of aliens. Nu-uh, nope.”

“Tony, we need all hands on deck. And you can’t just lock him up like this, it’s not even legal.”

“Yeah and you weren’t either, remember your rogue times?”

Steve sighed very loudly:

“It’s different. Look we don’t have time, just let him out and come up so we can make a plan.”

His mentor just shook his head stubbornly and wagged a finger at Steve:

“Don’t tell me how to handle my kid, or I’ll sit back and watch the city fall. If I can’t work with a clear mind, might as well stop working altogether.”

Steve couldn’t say anything to that, he just looked at Peter with guilt. They both knew there was no convincing him now, Steve nodded and left the room. Mr.Stark turned to him and ruffled his hair while smiling down at him:

“It’ll be over before you know it.”

Peter chose to sit still and not say anything. For now he felt sadness, but knew it would turn into anger later on. The older man turned around and left the room, locking the door behind him.

Peter clutched the sheets.

This was so getting out of hand, someone needed to stop this madness.

He slid back to rest his head on the wall, his emotions were getting mixed up. He had heard that a person could only feel one emotion at a time, it was a lie.

He was scared. Mr.Stark was not a person like this. He-mostly-didn’t lose his senses, he never pushed Peter into a corner, never trapped him like this. His love had been gentle, warm up until this point. It was cold now, colder than the walls of the panic room. Peter didn’t want to admit it but he was afraid of him.

He was disappointed. Mr.Stark didn’t even trust him enough to let him into the battlefield, the distrust was mutual now. After this stunt his mentor pulled, he wouldn’t trust him again. The world he wanted to be a part of? The world of Tony Stark? He wanted out of it now.

He was sad. He remembered the times Mr.Stark had slowly opened up to him, accepting him into his small circle of family and friends. Some of the weekends were warm and cozy with pizzas and laughter and movie marathons. They would sneak cheeseburgers too. He remembered them with amber light, warm and cozy.

He was angry. Because how dare he? How dare he take everything sweet and replace it with--with this?! Peter wasn’t a useless fragile doll to hide in the face of danger, he was a freaking enhanced human! He felt the tears that only the worst amount of fury could bring, he held them back. No one had a claim over him like this. No one. And definitely not his once-worshipped celebrity mentor.

He wondered about the fight out here. Was May safe? Ned? Others? Who would watch over civilians? That was usually his job, protecting the civilians. Tony Stark took that responsibility away from him, which he had no right to. He was spider-man before they met. He hoped no one got hurt.

Being alone with his own thoughts weren’t doing him any good, he was really good at making doom scenarios and getting all panicky over them. He could watch Tv but reconsidered it, he would just feel worse if he saw all the civilians that got hurt. Or the Avengers and their allies.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, then the lock turned. There stood a man who he was very familiar with: Happy Hogan. The big man had a tray in his hand, the other one held the door as if he was afraid Peter would sprint out. He obviously knew about this confinement of his.

“Hey, I brought you some food, lighten up.”

Peter turned his head away:

“ ‘m not hungry.”

“Yeah and I can fly.”

Peter flashed an annoyed glance at him, Happy caved in:

“Kid, this is wrong on so many levels I’m aware of it but what can I do? It’s Tony. You know Tony is Tony and I know you’re hungry. So eat.”

“Happy, that whole sentence doesn’t make any sense. Look, I won’t try to go out and fight so can I please get out of here?”

“Sorry, Tony said he would come and get you when things are all wrapped up.”

“Of course he did.”

Peter took his head between his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, it was a clear ‘Get out’ message. Happy stepped into the room and placed the tray onto the kitchen counter:

“Next time it will be Tony, I suggest you clean your plate.”

With that, he left the room. Locking the door once again. Peter wasn’t going to eat, it was a childish protest but not like he cared. He was being treated like one, so might as well act like it.

The last time the door opened, it really was Mr.Stark. He had a small battle wound right on his temple, it was cleaned.

“Kid, it’s time to get out.”

Peter got up without a word and stretched his hand out:

“Take it off.”

“What’s the hurry?”

Peter spoke through his gritted teeth:

“Take. It. Off.”

“Okay okay, geez.”

Peter pushed through Tony and walked towards the elevator, Mr.Stark followed shortly behind:

“Slow down, Peter. What’s the hurry?”

Peter kept his mouth shut for now, he had things to say but he had to get himself to safety first. Then they could scream at each other. Friday took them up to the ground floor much to his mentor’s dissent:

“Aren’t you coming to the penthouse?”

“No! No, I’m not coming to the penthouse ever again!”

The anger he hid under his sadness was coming up to the surface, there would be no going back after this particular blowup. He didn’t mind, just kept on:

“I can understand if you force me to eat some fruits, I can understand if you put a curfew, I can even understand you tracking my suit. But this, this is beyond comprehension Mr.Stark! You overstepped! You exceeded my imagination as to how crazy you can get!”

With the bracelet off of his wrist, the dull buzzing was back again. Warning him, telling him to step back, get away. But Peter being Peter, he ignored it once again and just continued his word-vomit:

“Locking someone up? A kid? You keep calling me a kid but I’m not—I am not your kid! Now, I’m going to get the hell out of here and never come back. I don’t want you lurking around or, I don’t care how rich you are, I will call the police!”

Peter stopped, only because he was out of breath. Mr.Stark was…shocked. Probably an understatement. He was awestruck, dumbfounded, stunned. Peter turned around to leave, expecting a silent treatment.

But Mr.Stark had one last thing to say:

“You can’t cut ties with me that easily, you’re my kid.”

Peter walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wasn't sure about this chapter but here you go lovely readers of Ao3 (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ  
> And...did you notice Stark playing the blame card?


	7. So, Truce?

_"You can't cut ties with me that easily, you're my kid."_

Peter already knew that, that wasn't the plan. They shared too many memories for him to just walk out like that, but he would at least try. It would hurt him, hurt Mr.Stark but they had to put a distance between them. Also, Mr.Stark was wrong about one part: Peter most definitely was _not_ his kid.

While he was walking back home, he realized that he forgot his backpack in his room in the tower. He nearly cursed before stopping himself, he'd cursed enough as it is. What would May say?

The tower wasn't even in sight, he closed his eyes and squeezed them. The suit, the phone, one of his school books…All of them were left behind. Normally Mr.Stark would just send them with Happy if he forgot, but this was different. Now, his mentor would keep them, use them to lure the young boy back into his lair.

Peter shook his head. For one, he could just use his home-made suit and he could just say his phone was broken. As for his book, he could just borrow a copy from the library archives or simply share with Ned.

He reached home and pulled the keys from his pocket, he was expecting the house to be empty but found May in it. Crying.

She was looking at Peter like she didn't know him, after that she just threw herself to Peter and hugged the hell out of him while bawling her eyes out:

"I-I thought…something happened to you! Oh god, I was so scared. I-" she retreated and gave a light punch to his chest "Where were you? Why didn't you answer your phone?! Do you have any idea—"

Peter just hugged her again, hugged her tighter and wanted to curse Mr.Stark for locking him up and preventing him from reaching out to his aunt.

"I'm so sorry May, after all that I think I dropped my phone somewhere. I'm really sorry so please stop crying, I'm here, I'm unhurt."

His aunt's body shuddered with a few more sobs then she stopped crying, she spoke with a voice that was now calm and low:

"What about Tony?"

"What about him?"

"You were with him."

"Oh…Yeah, he got back safe. Everything's okay, the attack wasn't close to us anyway."

He gave his aunt a reassuring smile and walked towards his room:

"I'm so tired though, I think I'll catch some Zs."

"Okay, honey. Good night, even though it's almost morning."

"Good night, May. I still have 4 hours to sleep, not a problem."

When he entered his room, he saw a paper bag on his bed with a note on it:

''You can have these back, but get the suit yourself –T.S'

He turned the paper bag upside down, contents dropping down with a soft thud. His phone and his book. His mentor knew what he wanted the most out of them and like a sinister man, he kept it. Peter felt upset, it was almost like a game.

He wanted to punch a wall but May was home, he couldn't just tell her everything that's happened. What was he going to say anyway? That Tony Stark went all psycho on him?

May would believe him of course, but that wouldn't change a thing. Because she was the only one and she had no power over Mr.Stark or the authorities that were wrapped around his little finger.

He wanted to cry out of frustration, to let it all out. It was a good alternative to punching a wall. He didn't do either, he just plopped down to his bed and tried to sleep it off. It wasn't like sleeping off a headache, it was harder with his breath out of order.

But he managed to sleep by some miracle.

The morning came very quickly, the sun shone through the half-closed curtains and the rays fell onto his eyelids. He woke up early, even before the alarm. He got out of the bed and closed it before it could make him go deaf.

May was asleep, he didn't wake her up and went through his usual routine and headed towards his school.

The school day was peaceful with no one to annoy him and ended without a problem. Peter felt restless, however after getting out of the school building he instantly knew why.

That damn Audi was right in front of him.

Before he could turn around and go back, Mr.Stark got out of the vehicle and calmly called out to him:

"Peter."

"Why are you here?"

"Get in."

Peter looked around, he didn't want to cause trouble right in front of his school. His mentor played his cards very well, Peter submissively walked to the passenger side and got in. They sped through the crowded traffic, Peter broke the silence:

"Where are you taking me?"

"Tower."

"May—"

"Your aunt knows."

Dread filled him, his spider-sense wasn't screaming yet but restlessness was almost palpable. What was the man going to do? Punish him? No no, he didn't do anything wrong.

The rest of the ride was in silence, the elevator ride was the same. Then they reached the penthouse and Mr.Stark pointed at the comfortable couch, Peter sat down while Mr.Stark got out of his sight and returned with a glass in his hand.

He extended it to Peter:

"Drink up."

Peter took it but made no attempt to drink it, he wanted to get this over with. Whatever this was.

"Kid, you know I had to do that."

Peter looked at him in bewilderment:

"I can't believe this, did you bring me all the way to the tower, just to tell me just how right you were?"

"I mean, I'm kinda right."

"No, nope. I can't do this."

"I have every right to protect you, Peter."

Peter wished to scream at his face. He actually, genuinely wanted to scream. Still, he stopped to breathe for a moment. He wanted his next words to burn:

"But who are you to protect me? We are not related by blood, our social status is different, we live in different words. In the eyes of society, we are just acquaintances. Just a nerd kid who has an internship with a rich man."

Blood drained from Mr.Stark's face. Peter was pretty sure he mirrored the blood-drained expression because he somehow managed to shock himself too. He became acutely aware that his words were too harsh, he couldn't take them back now.

There was silence again, this time it wasn't filled with tension. It was filled with Mr.Stark's shock, sadness and anger; Peter's guilt, fear and adrenaline. What he meant by burn wasn't a third-degree one, he was hoping for a first-degree one.

Without letting his mentor speak, he quickly tried to apologize:

"No…I didn't mean it that way. Mr.Stark, I'm sorry, I honestly didn't want to be that mean."

He was met with silence. At this point, it was the worst. He would feel better if the man just started shouting at him, telling him how ungrateful he was. But this was just hell. Pure agony.

Mr.Stark was looking into the distance, he was leaned back on the couch, arms crossed. Peter's spider-sense made him feel like he was electrocuted, he still didn't move. He had it coming. Whatever it is, he had it coming.

Finally, the man spoke like Peter wasn't there. As if he was just talking to himself, his attention focused on something else:

"You are right, I'm not really your anything."

After those words, his spider-sense lost its intensity. Peter leaned forward so he could be closer to Mr.Stark and apologized once more:

"I'm honestly sorry. Mr.Stark, I know there is no one out there that can be better than you as a mentor and as a father figure. I was just feeling suffocated, you were being too overprotective. I mean, I was spider-man before you and I will be spider-man after you. I can handle myself and if I can't, I now know that I need to call someone."

He stopped to take a breath and continued:

"Whew, that was long. But you understand it, right? Mr.Stark? And even after all that, there is May. She is my legal guardian you know, she's pretty capable of protecting me. I've been with her for years, I'm still alive."

For some reason that got the man's attention, he looked at Peter and repeated after him:

"Yeah. May's your legal guardian."

Mr.Stark smiled at him and continued:

"Okay, kid. You made me snap out of it. I'm kinda sorry too, I shouldn't have locked you up as a solution to my problem and you had every right to be angry. I'll try to be more subtle with my protective side. So, truce?"

Peter smiled from the bottom of his heart:

"Yes, sir!"

Peter was so happy that he was sure other people could see the energy radiating from him like an aura. They spent the evening together and then Mr.Stark personally drove him home, even coming up to the apartment for a night chat with May. He genuinely couldn't be any happier now.

That night, he was fast asleep with the demons out of his mind. He felt like everything wrong with his life was solved and he had nothing to worry about.

With the truce he made with Mr.Stark, everything would be back to normal.

Or so he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! Update (～￣▽￣)～  
> Is it weird that I don't like my own version of Tony? I mean, he is playing cat and mouse with Peter...Cornering him in a place where he knows Peter will be vulnerable (a.k.a school)


	8. No!

Roughly 3 weeks after their truce, things were looking pretty good. Mr.Stark was back to normal about his fatherly tendencies and Peter didn’t feel suffocated anymore, they didn’t even argue once.

Today was a Thursday morning but Peter would be staying in the tower until tomorrow night because May had a business trip she had to go and wasn’t comfortable leaving Peter alone in the house while she was absent.

Currently, they were sitting on the couch and watching some random movie but they weren’t even paying attention to it, they were more focused on talking to each other. The two talked about everything from Peter’s school activities to Mr.Stark’s nightmares. The man was weirdly open and honest lately. Peter had no complaints about it, he felt trusted.

Mr.Stark looked at him without speaking for a second and then cleared his throat. Obviously, he was about to say something that would have a negative effect.

“Pete, I knew I would be subtle with the protecting thing but I just can’t get it out of my head. I cancelled your bi-weekly blood tests but you look like you’re losing weight, so..-“

“It’s okay Mr.Stark, I haven’t been to the doctor’s office since forever. I think it would be good to see what’s going on in my body.”

His mentor beamed at that:

“I’m glad we are on the same page on this, let me call Dr.Cho real quick.”

He got off to retrieve his phone from somewhere in the house, Peter realized that he was mirroring Mr.Stark’s smile. It was so easy to smile now, the man was really easy-going since the truce. Peter felt like nothing was ever wrong before, as if all the things that happened were just bad dreams and nothing more. All the fury, fear and constant worry was dissolved into nothingness.

His spider-sense kept acting up now and then, giving him slight doses of anxiety but never scaring him full on. Peter felt like the problem wasn’t Mr.Stark all along, but then what was it? Mr.Stark had asked him about it last week but Peter had lied, saying it wasn’t acting up anymore. He didn’t feel good about it but he was afraid Mr.Stark would revert back to his old self.

He heard Mr.Stark’s steps and turned around to face him.

“Cho said she could come at noon and the test results would be out in the evening.”

“Sweet.”

They spent the following 3 hours talking about new suit designs for Peter, Mr.Stark offered to add black to it for the missions that required stealth. They ended up with 4 different designs and chose a pitch-black one with a silver spider emblem on it.

“Mr.Stark, I have one more idea.”

“Shoot.”

“Why don’t we use vantablack?”

His mentor looked at him with surprise, then a proud smile found its way onto his face. Again mirrored by Peter.

“Kid, I’m out of words here.”

They kept spewing ideas until Friday alerted them of Cho’s arrival. The doctor was the same as always, reserved around Mr.Stark and almost distant.

They skipped past the greetings and got on with the work, Dr.Cho drew blood from him and tagged it so it wouldn’t get mixed up with the other ones in the lab. When the test results came back, it became apparent that Peter was still suffering from vitamin deficiency. Plus, he was underweight. Dr.Cho prescribed him with vitamins and told him to eat according to his metabolism, making Peter sigh.

After Dr.Cho left the vicinity, Mr.Stark ruffled his hair and spoke in a light tone:

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t have a problem with me keeping a track of your calorie intake.”

“Yeah, looks like I’m not good at eating.”

Then Mr.Stark proceeded to grab Peter’s wrist and hold it between his index finger and thumb, they overlapped.

“Yeah, obviously.”

“Mr.Stark.”

The man let go of him and waved his hands:

“Okay okay, I won’t go crazy over your so very slender wrist.”

…

Peter was woken up by Mr.Stark's voice, he looked at the clock on his phone.

03:12 AM.

Normally he would sleep through everything since the room that he stayed in was soundproofed specifically for him, he had enhanced hearing after all. But from the looks of it he had forgotten to close the door, it was cracked open and the soft light of the living room area was reflecting through the halls of the penthouse.

He didn’t want to eavesdrop but he did anyway, Mr.Stark was talking on the phone. He was actually whispering but Peter could easily pick up the words:

“No, I want it done in that specific location.”

“Yes, the payment will be in cash. Half now, half after the job.”

“I don’t care, I’ll deal with that don’t worry your pretty head.”

“Look, it’s important, leave nothing behind. Double-check if you have to, anything could drop with that kind of force. And listen, if anyone, I mean _anyone_ , hears about this…I will come for you.”

Then he hung up. Peter couldn’t understand what that was about but it looked like some super fun secret mission, he was disappointed Mr.Stark didn’t tell him about it. He mentioned something about payment? Half now how later thing? It definitely was an undercover mission.

Peter quietly closed his doors and threw himself onto the bed, he would investigate this. Mr.Stark wasn’t annoyingly overprotective anymore but he would surely object to Peter going on an undercover mission. They were one of the most dangerous missions and to no one’s surprise, the most fun.

As they were having breakfast, Peter tried to pry the information out of his mentor’s mouth but didn’t succeed. He tried both the indirect and direct approaches, failing on both.

He paused in his attempts to catch his breath, Mr.Stark looked happy about the prolonged silence but Peter felt frustrated:

“Hey, Mr.Stark. You realize that I haven’t been to a mission since, like 6 weeks?”

“I’m aware, that was the point.”

“What? I thought we were past this whole protecting phase?”

“We are past ‘overprotective’ phase, you’re still grounded from missions. Just for…,” he stopped to think for a second “2 or 3 more days.”

“Aw man.”

Mr.Stark chuckled and took out his Starkpad, opened the calendar and mumbled:

“May will be home around 9 pm tonight, she said you two had plans?”

“Yeah, tomorrow. We will go to see a movie, then eat dinner afterwards.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Mmh.”

The uneventful friday ended with May coming home and tucking him in bed, promising they would catch up tomorrow. Peter thought about his peaceful days, they were almost too peaceful. He didn’t want to jinx it but he still needed his adrenaline rush. Still, there was nothing he could do since he was grounded from patrolling. He just had to hang on there for 3 more days then he would be swinging between the buildings for hours.

Peter woke up around noon, which wasn’t normal. He washed his face and walked to the kitchen, May was sitting on the chair and reading a magazine. She heard Peter and smiled at him:

“Slept like a log, huh?”

“Yeah. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“It’s Saturday, what’s the harm?”

Peter plopped down to the chair next to hers:

“You’re right. So, when are we going out today?”

May got up and took some ingredients for making french toasts:

“After we eat. Stark said you were on a calorie deficit, I’m not even gonna mention the vitamin deficiency.”

Peter whined:

“Maaay.”

"I'll have you know that from now on we are co-parenting you, I made a deal with him. Tony filled me in about your outburst and I must say, I'm kinda disappointed about it."

"I'm not feeling too good about it either and I apologized. And what's with the co-parenting thing? I thought he would back off about being overprotective."

"Honey, this is his way of stepping back. Divide that overprotection by half, 50-50."

"That...makes sense."

His aunt smiled and started making the french toasts. Normally, she could burn the simplest food. But by some miracle, she managed to serve them unburnt. They ate everything on the table, both feeling bloated and heavy. May suggested going out for a walk until they went to see the movie.

When they felt no longer heavy, the duo bought their tickets and watched the movie. It was a comedy movie, so they were laughing like hell after they got out. May was as red as a tomato and Peter was no different from her.

He enjoyed his aunt’s laugh, it was genuine and pure. The sad thing was, it didn’t last long.

They’d been walking hand in hand when the lights of a car flashed upon them. Just as Peter was turning around to see it, the car hit May. Hurling her high into the air.

Peter watched it happen in slow motion. The black car hitting May, hurling her up, May falling down, her legs bent in wrong positions, blood pouring out of her head and ears, her eyes closed.

He heard the screams of the people around him but they were muffled as if he was underwater. He smelled blood, froze. May wasn’t breathing.

The moment she hit the ground, she was dead. Her heart had pumped a few more times then stopped. Her last breath was soft.

He moved and kneeled beside her, held her hand. She was still warm, but he knew she was devoid of life. He wondered if she could still be resuscitated, or if it was too late.

He vaguely heard someone calling for an ambulance, they wouldn’t get here in time. May was getting colder and colder, all the blood soaked into the knees of his pants. No one dared to rip him apart from his aunt’s lifeless body, he wasn’t crying yet. But after the paramedics arrived and separated them, he couldn’t see through the tears.

Medics wanted to give him sedatives but he knew they were useless against his metabolism, he somehow managed to fake his calmness and got into the ambulance with his aunt’s body.

He put his head between his hands and lowered it, his eyes focused on the ground through the still going tears. He watched the droplets fall from his face, his lungs felt constricted.

When they arrived at the hospital, no one was in a hurry. They knew it was useless, they had been trying for the last 30 minutes. Peter wasn’t crying anymore, he felt like he was going to pass out.

Well, he didn’t just feel like it. He actually passed out from the exhaustion of crying.

He cursed his spider-sense. Apparently, if the danger wasn’t directed at him, his spider-sense didn’t care about more.

His vision went black, he felt gentle hands holding him, then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, please don't kill me┗( T﹏T )┛  
> So...what do you think about this chapter? We are getting close to the ending now, comments are appreciated `(*>﹏<*)′


	9. Mortal World

Peter woke up to a calloused hand caressing him, he didn’t open his eyes at first. However, he remembered the events from the previous night, suddenly opened his eyes and got up.

He was lying on a hospital bed with an IV drop in his arm, Mr.Stark was sitting on the edge of the bed and he looked very worried.

“Kid, how are you?”

Peter looked at his mentor, tears started falling down. It was enough of an answer. Mr.Stark pulled him from his shoulders and hugged him very gently, combed his hand through Peter’s hair while he sobbed.

“I-I couldn’t stop it Mr.Stark! She just..-she—got hit!”

His thoughts were a mess, his relief from seeing his mentor mixed with the agonizing sorrow from watching his aunt die. The feeling made him want to give up on his life as a functioning member of society and made him wanna live as if he was a baby. Protected from the sorrow and the pain of the mortal world. Just for a second, he understood his mentor's will to keep him safe.

Mr.Stark tightened his hug and whispered:

“I know Pete, I know… Just let it all out.”

Peter didn’t know for how long he cried but when he stopped his mind was more clear, he pushed at Mr.Stark’s chest to indicate that he was okay to separate. He looked at the man with a fearful expression:

“Mr.Stark, what happens now? She was the last of my family. Am—am I going into foster care?”

Mr.Stark looked at him with disbelief:

“Did you seriously think that I would let you go anywhere other than my house? God no.”

“Wha--? Wait...You’re…adopting me?”

“Hell yeah.”

“But—“

“No buts, you’re coming with me. What would May think if I just let you go to some stranger's house?”

Peter nodded, he was sure that there was nothing he could do to change his mind. He had one last thing on his mind:

“I…I want to see May.”

“Peter, no kid…She is not in a good condition, it’s been…hours.”

Peter felt the familiar fire of the anger:

“I don’t care, I won’t go with you if I can’t see her.”

“Pete..-“

He suddenly ripped the IV out of his arm and started towards the door. All of a sudden, his upper arm was gripped tightly. He yanked it and nothing happened. He turned to Mr.Stark with puzzlement, it looked like his mentor was completely capable of stopping him from leaving.

“Sorry, kid. I knew this would happen so I had to use it.”

Mr.Stark looked down on his wrist, Peter followed his gaze and there it was. There it was…The black nano-tech that suppressed his powers, making him a normal teenage boy.

Peter didn’t bother trying to hold his tears back as they started rolling down his cheeks:

“Why? This will be the last time…Why are you being so cruel? Going as far as using this!”

He yanked his arm one more time, it did nothing. The man held on even tighter as he spoke:

“Trust me, I’m doing you a favor. If you saw her now, you wouldn’t be able to forget about it until the last day of your life. I don’t want you to remember her like that.”

“I said I don’t care! Let me go!”

“I care, stop struggling and let me take care of you for god’s sake!”

They looked at each other for a second, Peter knew he wouldn’t be seeing his aunt. He was starting to understand the situation, Mr.Stark would be his legal guardian. Which meant he had no say in some things, he sniffed and let his arm go slack. His arm was let go after that.

“Can you take this off now?”

“After we get home.”

Right at that moment a woman walked in and extended a file to Mr.Stark, who then signed the contents of it and handed them back. The woman smiled:

“He’s all yours now. There will be some additional papers which you will have to sign and don’t forget about the finalization hearing or they won’t let you complete the adoption.”

“Got it, thank you for the effort.”

The woman walked out, leaving them in silence. Peter’s brows creased as he processed what just happened:

“Uh, wasn’t that unusually fast? They—they just gave me to you?”

Mr.Stark gave him his billionaire smile:

“Well, it’s me after all.”

Peter felt bad, he really felt bad. He took a deep breath and cleaned the tear stains from his face, his now legal guardian was watching his every move. Peter looked towards the door:

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

Mr.Stark gave him an observing look:

“Okay. Hope you’re not thinking of running away and finding May, ‘cause she is not here.”

Peter didn’t reply as he left the room, instead of going to the bathroom he got out of the hospital and sat down in the pavement in front. He wondered how long it would take for Mr.Stark to realize he didn’t go to the bathroom.

Apparently 1 minute.

“Kid, why did you lie?”

“Did you put a tracker in me or something?”

“There is a tracker in the bracelet. Now answer me.”

“I need space.”

Mr.Stark grabbed his arm for the second time and pulled him to his feet:

“I’ll give you all the space you want when we get home, okay? So don’t lie to me and be good.”

He found himself in the car, tears burned the back of his eyes as he thought about May. He tried to keep them from spilling out and succeeded, he could cry all the time when they arrived at the penthouse.

Only after the second hour on the road Peter stupidly realized that they weren’t going to the tower.

“Mr.Stark? Where are we going?”

His mentor took a moment to reply:

“One of the lake houses. You said you need space, I’ll give you one. I’ve notified your school, you have the week off.”

That made Peter feel better, at least he didn’t have to think about school for a while. But then there was this other thing bugging him:

“Mr.Stark?”

“Yes, Pete?”

“The person that hit May…did they find anyone?”

“Sorry, kid. The only clues were the car model and the plate number but they are both off the grid.”

Peter leaned his head against the window and was fast asleep, he could do research on the Mr.Stark’s laptop when they arrived. But for now, he just wanted to rest.

After seeing several dreams about May and the accident, Peter was awakened by Mr.Stark:

“We’re here.”

Peter rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and blinked several times. They were in front of a lake house that seemed fit for at least 6 people, it was made out of some dark wood. Peter couldn’t pay much attention to the exterior of it, his mind couldn’t process things right yet.

Mr.Stark grabbed his shoulder and led him into the house:

“Okay, you can take the last room on the second floor. I took your stuff from the apartment before coming to the hospital so you should be okay for a week, anything you wanna ask?”

“No, I just need space.”

His mentor knowingly squeezed his shoulder and gave him a gentle push towards the stairs:

“Got it, just shout if you need something.”

Peter nodded and made his way upstairs, the room Mr.Stark gave him wasn’t as big as the room in the penthouse but still big compared to an average room in the city center. He threw himself onto the queen-sized bed, it didn’t smell like dust as he imagined. There was a faint jasmine scent, which calmed him. After that, his body shut down and this time the sleep was void of any dreams.

When he woke up, it surprised him to see the sun. He didn’t think he would sleep this long, but sorrow was a new experience. He’d cried once, maybe he wasn’t the type who cried after a loss. He felt nothing, literally. He just wanted to lay down on the bed and never get up again. Watching the ceiling was all that he wished to do for the rest of his life. He didn’t even want to speak, even though he could.

Just as he was about to go to daydream land, Mr.Stark entered the room. He looked surprised:

“Oh, I didn’t think you were awake. Why didn’t you come down?”

Peter didn’t want to move his mouth and answer, but he did anyway:

“Didn’t want to move.”

“I get it, you are one of those people who mourn by becoming dysfunctional. Normally, I would try to drag you out of bed but I promised to give you space. You have to eat though, or I’ll break it.”

Peter didn’t reply and Mr.Stark didn’t need him to.

7 days passed by in the blink of an eye. Peter thought he would lose all hope and live as a dysfunctional parasite, leeching off of his mentor. However, oddly enough, he managed to recover in just 5 days. Maybe his changed brain experienced the hormones of his grief differently, who knows.  


The last 2 days were still frustrating. He’d been searching high and low for any information about May’s murderer but as Mr.Stark said, the criminal was off the grid. He only found the car model and the color from a witness who was there, which wasn’t helpful at all. None of the CCTV cameras had caught the car, so the plate number was out of the question. And weirdly, the cameras that were supposed to be recording everything-like ticket booth cameras- were broken. Peter thought that it was intentional.

On the Sunday night, they were preparing to leave the lake house. Peter felt weirdly sentimental about the place so he went out for a brief walk around the vicinity, after walking for at least 40 minutes he came upon a shed.

The shed looked taken care of and it was within the personal property boundaries, which meant it belonged to Mr.Stark. He was curious about the content of it, so he did the only logical thing. He tried to open the door, it was locked.

He circled around it and found a window on the upper side of the shed, closer to the roof. Luckily, one of his powers was sticking to things. He jumped to the wall and fell down, he was confused for a moment. Then noticed the black bracelet, he had a feeling his mentor left it there on purpose. Or just forgot about it like Peter did.

Getting slightly annoyed, he used the ledges on the wall and climbed. He peered into the shed and his breath got caught up in his throat, he made a choking noise.

It was the car.

It was the same as the black car the witness described.

With the same plate number.

With a gas can near it, ready to be destroyed.

“No no no no…”

He didn’t have his spider-sense.

But for once, he had the common sense.

He jumped down, turned around and made a run for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9 was a nightmare, there was a sentence that I had to think about for at least 15 minutes just to write it without a grammatical mistake...Pretty sure I failed (-_-')  
> Feel free to criticize (´。＿。｀)


	10. Neverending Nightmare

He didn’t even know how long he had been running, all he knew was that he was at his limit. His legs felt as if they were on fire, his lungs couldn’t supply him with enough oxygen anymore. He was running on empty with nothing but adrenaline to keep him going. And fear. The fear was real. It was almost physical, he felt it in his bones.

His mind was going a mile an hour, he was unsure about the outcome of all this mess. Mr.Stark was completely unpredictable now, there was no telling what he would do to him if he got caught. _When_ he got caught to be more precise.  
The bracelet had a tracker in it, it was a hopeless case. He knew it but he had to keep going, he would keep beating himself up if he at least didn’t try.

He couldn’t see straight anymore, his eyes were full of unshed tears. Which is why he didn’t see the roots of a nearby tree, got caught up in them and fell face down on the ground. He tried to take his breathing under control, he needed to hear if someone was around. The only thing he heard was the sound of a car, he figured that he was close to a road. That could be his last chance at getting out of here.

He gathered his strength and stood up on wobbly legs. God, he was tired. He opted on walking until he reached the road, he needed to rest his legs or he wouldn’t be able to run in times of need.

The road became visible at last, it was empty for now. He started walking alongside the road, this way he would be able to get away and also hitchhike if a car came around.

As he kept walking, the thought in his head became gradually darker. What would Mr.Stark do when he caught him? Would he kill him like he did to his Aunt? He probably would. How else would he be able to stop the truth from getting out?

‘Aunt May…’ he thought, the tears coming back with full force ‘Sorry, I’m so sorry.’ They were dripping down his cheeks, he quickly wiped them off while trying to calm himself down again. He couldn’t fall apart now, he had to save himself or no one else would.

Dread filled him. No one knew where they were.

It was a safe house.

Mr.Stark even dared to hide the evidence there.

Peter was actually surprised that his mentor didn’t catch up to him yet, maybe he didn’t even realize Peter was gone. But then again, he wasn’t that lucky.

Lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the sound of a car coming behind him. When he turned around, it was too late. The car, the Audi, passed him and swerved right in front of him then came to a stop. Mr.Stark got out of it, looked at Peter with caution.

None of them made a move at first, they just stared at each other. Calculating, analyzing, planning. His mentor wasn’t even trying to defend himself, he was guilty as charged.

Suddenly, Peter made a break for the woods. Mr.Stark wouldn’t be able to track him with the car there, but there was a miscalculation on his part. Just as he stepped into the moist soil of the dense forest, his mentor tackled him from behind.

The wind got knocked out of him as he made contact with the ground, his mouth filling with dirt for a moment. He spat it out as his mentor turned him around and got on top of him to keep him from moving too much, his hands were held above his head with the man’s one hand. He started pleading:

“Mr.Stark please! I-I won’t tell anyone—please don’t kill me plea—“

“What?!”

Mr.Stark looked at him with utter shock:

“Kill you? Are you out of your mind? I would never…—look, just calm down okay? I won’t hurt you.”

“But you killed May!” Peter screamed. The tears coming back again, this time flowed down his temples and onto the ground. Mr.Stark wiped them off as he spoke with the softest voice Peter ever heard:

“I know, I know. But I had to, kid. I really had to. She wasn’t enough.”

Fury filled Peter’s whole body as he struggled to get out of Mr.Stark’s tight grip:

“How dare you?! You just killed her for that reason? Are you insane?!”

“Shh…We can talk about it when we get back home, here’s what we are going to do…” The man took out a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket and dangled them in front of Peter’s face “I’m going to cuff you, you’re going to be a good boy and get into the car. Then we will drive back and talk this through.”

It was Peter’s turn to look at him with disbelief now:

“Talk this through…Talk this through?! It’s not a petty argument, you killed May!”

Peter was coming close to hyperventilating and Mr.Stark seemed to notice it too. He put the handcuffs back and took out something else, a syringe full of an unknown substance. His struggles grew more violent as he tried to throw the insane man off of him, it was getting him nowhere. Just like everything he did to save himself.

“No, no! Don’t! I’m sorry, I will—I will be a good boy, I’ll come with you so please..!”

“For the last time Pete, I’m not going to kill you. Just don’t move or the needle will break.”

With that, he stabbed Peter’s neck with the syringe. Peter felt himself slowly lose consciousness, the ground beneath him swayed or maybe he did. Taking deep breaths were becoming harder too, his eyelids refused to cooperate with his attempts to keep them open. And a white noise washed over the sounds of the forest.

With his last conscious breath, a plea made its way out of his mouth.

“Please…”

His thoughts became a jumbled mess, then the world went dark.

…

When he came around, he was in a dimly lit room. His head and body still felt heavy but he could open his eyes, he tried to lift himself up though his body denied him the simplest of mobility. His limbs felt like they were made out of lead, too heavy to function. He couldn’t really clear his mind, he was confused.

Until a low, monotone voice came from the corner of the room.

“Glad to see you awake.”

Then Peter remembered everything. Adrenaline rushed through his body once again, countering the aftereffects of whatever drug the man gave him. The said man stood up from the chair on the other side of the room and stepped closer to Peter, gave him an analyzing look. He managed to get himself into a sitting position.

Only then Peter realized he was handcuffed to the bed by one hand. He yanked it, hard. Causing his skin to instantly bruise.

“Don’t do that or I’ll have to sedate you again. It’s temporary, until we talk things out.”

Peter looked at him with pure rage, Mr.Stark chuckled at that and sat on the bed. His one hand ruffled Peter’s hair, he flinched and tried to avoid it but he could only go so far with his hand cuffed to the bed.

He wanted to cry from anger but he’d already cried enough in front of his so-called mentor, instead he chose to be logical:

“What are you plan on doing with me, Mr.Stark?”

The man didn’t speak for a while, Peter grew more anxious by every second. Mr.Stark fully turned to him and looked like he wanted to say something but was unsure about how to say it. Peter’s heart was beating so fast he was afraid of having a heart attack, his body was under so much stress…

“Honestly, kid, this is the best thing that could’ve happened.”

Peter’s mouth hung open in shock.

Mr.Stark combed a hand through his hair as he looked away and took a deep breath:

“With this, I can protect you forever. You don’t have to worry about anything. Not school, not media, not bullies. I’ll handle them, no problem.”

At this point, Peter was getting used to the feeling of dread. Cold, unholy dread. He weakly yanked the handcuff again as he scooted back a little bit more, trying to put more space between them.

His voice was timid when he talked:

“What do you mean I won’t have to worry about school and..-and other things?”

The man didn’t speak, he just made eye contact with Peter. After some time, he understood. His words came out as whispers:

“You don’t plan on letting me go anywhere. You will just keep me locked up here…aren’t you?”

“I didn’t want this to happen, Pete. If only you didn’t go out for that walk and got curious…Everything would be back to normal at some point, but you just had to look.” He continued with an empty look “I’m angry at myself, should’ve burned the damn car…”

Peter was, in one word, petrified. He didn’t feel like freaking out or lashing out. He just felt a deep, agonizing sadness. A single tear fell down on the mattress.

He was never going to be spider-man again.

He would never go to his dream college.

He would never be free.

“You—you can’t just do that…”

“I actually can.”

“Mr.Stark you can’t do this to me, I—I can’t live like this, I just can’t!”

He was a sobbing mess right now but he couldn’t care less. He felt trapped and this time it was worse than before, he was trapped for real this time. The mentor who claimed to care about him so much did that to him. And May was gone. Gone.

Mr.Stark uncuffed him from the bed and pulled him into a crushing hug, trying to console him by kissing his forehead. Peter didn’t want to seek comfort from him but he was in the middle of a literal mental break down and the only person available was his mentor, his captor.

He cried for a very long time, cried himself to sleep. Or he passed out.

The second time he woke up, it was morning. Or at least he thought it was, the room didn’t have a clock.

He looked around, Mr.Stark wasn’t in sight. And surprisingly, the door was wide open. He stepped through the door and got down the stairs to find his mentor sitting in the kitchen table, drinking coffee and doing just that. He then noticed Peter and smiled at him:

“Morning sleepyhead, sit down. Let’s have breakfast.”

He slowly made his way towards the chair and sat down, this moment was unreal. Mr.Stark acted as if nothing happened, as if this was a regular breakfast. Peter knew it wasn’t. He wasn’t going to eat and go out to clear his head, or go back to the city. He was stuck here, with the murderer of his aunt.

But how exactly? He looked to the windows, he could just break them even without his powers. A coffee table would do.

“Windows are bullet-proof you know. This is a safe house but I still have psycho enemies.”

He just glared at him.

Eggs and bacon was placed in front of him, he muttered a ‘thank you’ out of habit and instantly regretted it. It made the man smile and run a hand through Peter’s hair.

When the breakfast was finished, Mr.Stark gestured him to get up and guided him back to his room. Peter sat down on his bed and waited for him to talk.

“I have some business to handle back in the city so I will be gone until evening and figured I should inform you about the situation. The business is you by the way, gotta clean the traces and all.”

He waved his hand around and basically pointed at everywhere:

“You’re not allowed to leave this house, don’t even try because I have some safety measures in place. Windows are bullet-proof as I’ve said and the doors that lead to outside are reinforced, you can’t break them. And if all fails, there is Friday. She will track and send a suit after you if you manage to break out. I’m not even gonna talk about the manual sedation feature of the bracelet that I can activate remotely.” He clapped his hands and smiled “So, don’t try anything funny and you will be fine.”

“Wait! Please…can’t you see how wrong this is?”

The man looked at him like he didn’t understand anything:

“What part of this is wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘what part’..? You can’t just take my whole freedom away and expect me to be okay with it!”

“I don’t expect anything but obedience from you, now is a good time to draw a line between your old life and the new one.”

He looked at him defiantly:

“Or what?”

“Well, I have the authority to punish you.”

Peter was left wordless as Mr.Stark turned around and left the room.

The tears burned the back of his eyes and flowed down in big fat drops, he didn’t bother to wipe them off. He didn’t know what Mr.Stark meant by ‘punishment’ but he didn’t want to find out, it was called a punishment for a reason. And if his mentor’s new cruel actions were anything to go by, he wouldn’t like to be punished. It was defeat.

He’d lost everything now.

He would rot in this place.

Forgotten.

Alone.

Prisoner to a twisted fatherly love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are finally at the end, thank you for reading it! ^.^  
> Oh, also, I will upload a 1 chapter mini-fic about what happened afterward as a separate work, it will give you a tiny glimpse about their daily life :3


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